Handelsblatt

New Competition

China Agrees $43-Billion Deal for Syngenta

ChemChina is taking a major interest in Europe. On Wednesday the state-owned firm agreed to buy Swiss pesticides-maker Syngenta for $43 billion, pitting it against Bayer and BASF from Germany and U.S. firms Monsanto and Dow Chemical.

China National Chemical Corporation has announced a takeover of the world’s largest pesticides maker, Swiss-based Syngenta, in what could be a record deal for the world's second-largest economy.

ChemChina, as the Chinese state-owned chemicals firm is known, offered $43 billion, or €39.4 billion, to buy Syngenta. The Basel-based chemicals firm supports the deal, the two companies said in a statement.

It comes less than one month after another major deal: In January, ChemChina agreed to buy German machine maker KraussMaffei for $1 billion, the biggest acquisition by a Chinese firm of a German company to date. ChemChina also bought Italian tire maker Pirelli last year and has bought businesses in France, Norway and the United Kingdom.